With the 2025 NCAA wrestling season just ending this past week, fans were left with one of the hardest decisions in college sports history, who should win the hodge trophy? The Hodge Trophy is widely considered the most sought after award in college wrestling, awarded to the most dominant wrestler in college wrestling every year. Fans were to vote between the three finalists, Wyatt Hendrickson, Mitchell Mesenbrink, and Carter Starocci, all 2025 national champs for their given schools and all three knocking off extremely notable wrestlers to win themselves national titles.
Going into the NCAA tournament, all eyes were on Carter Starocci of Penn State in the 184 lbs weight class, going for his 5th national title. If he could complete this huge feat, it would put him in a club of his own, being the only college wrestler to ever win five individual national championships. Carter walked through the first two days of the tournament, winning dominantly against all of his opponents until the finals where he would meet a worthy opponent in Parker Keckeisen, a returning national champ from Northern Iowa. Starocci would win this match 4-3 to win him his 5th national title.
Although Starocci would grab all the attention early on, it would be Wyatt Hendrickson, the underdog from Oklahoma State, in the 285 lbs weight class who would shock the world deep into the tournament. Hendrickson was the third seed going into the tournament, with two returning national champs predicted to take first and second at the heavyweight division. Hendrickson would meet a returning national champion in Greg Kerkvilet in the semifinal match and win a thriller to put himself into the finals. In his finals match, he would find himself against one of the greatest college wrestlers to ever do it, Gable Steveson of Minnesota. Wyatt would shock the world and takedown Steveson in the last seconds for the win, completing arguably one of the greatest NCAA runs of all time. This win was widely considered the greatest upset in college wrestling history.
“I think that since Starocci won a 5th national championship, the Hodge should go to him but it’s super controversial because of Wyatt Hendrickson beating Steveson,” junior Wyatt Long said.
Though there were some great stories in Wyatt Hendrickson and Carter Starocci, Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State in the 165 lbs weight class would make a good case for the Hodge Trophy, posting an undefeated record and the most technical falls in all of college wrestling in 2025. Mesenbrink would tech fall every opponent until the finals where he would collect a decision victory against Michael Caliendo of Iowa.
With such a hard decision at hand, fans would ultimately pick Wyatt Hendrickson as this year’s 2025 Dan Hodge Trophy winner.
“Ya, I think it’s safe to say that Wyatt Hendrickson is the greatest wrestler to ever walk the face of the Earth and he won’t ever lose, he’s like the Lebron of wrestling at this point,” junior Ian Valimont said.
